Alexios (Komnenos Angelos), sebastokrator, 1185-1195. Seal (Lead, 46 mm, 36.26 g, 12 h). ...Δ/Ⲱ/PO/C - ... - Δ/HM Saint Theodore, Saint George and Saint Demetrios standing facing, nimbate, in military attire, all holding a long spear in their right hands and resting their left hand on a shield set on the ground. Rev. CЄRACTOKPA/TⲰP MAPTVP[I]/KHN TPIAΔA / AΛЄΞIOC CΦPA/ΓIΔA TⲰN ΓPAΦⲰN ΦЄ[PЄI] ('The sebastokrator Alexios bears the three martyrs as the seal of his writings') in seven lines. Unpublished in the standard references. An apparently unpublished and spectacular new seal type of the later Byzantine emperor. Irregular edges and surface crack along the channel on the reverse, otherwise, very fine.



This seal likely belongs to Alexios III Angelos, later emperor of the Byzantine Empire. He received the title of sebastokrator when his younger brother, Isaac II Angelos, ascended to the throne in 1185, allowing us to firmly date our seal. Alexios is known to have preferred the illustrious name Komnenos over his formal surname, Angelos, even though he was only a member of the extended imperial family. In 1195, ten years after his brother’s ascension, Alexios staged a coup and deposed the emperor, who was subsequently blinded and imprisoned. The reign of Alexios III was marked by numerous problems, culminating in the capture of Constantinople in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade. Alexios fled to Thrace and lived in exile, eventually dying in Nicaea, confined to a monastery.

Three other seal types of Alexios Angelos from this period are known, each with different verse legends. Two types depict Saint George riding on horseback (Wassiliou-Seibt, Corpus 75 and Zacos/Veglery 2745), while the third is aniconographic (Wassiliou-Seibt, Corpus 89). Our seal presents a fourth, previously unknown type, featuring a poetic inscription invoking the trio of military saints displayed on the impressively designed obverse.